Timeline of History

In Beirut, Lebanon, Muslim rioters attack, loot, and burn the Danish embassy in protest against the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons. Muslims believe it is insulting to depict Muhammad at all, much less as a violent terrorist, because Islam is a religion of peace.

Thousands of protesters show up, too many for the security forces to handle and Lebanese Interior Minister Hassan Sabeh resigns. Protesters defend their violence to BBC reporters on the scene by saying "We have a right to defend our prophet" and "They should have respected our religion."